Bernie Sanders Voted 'Person of the Year' by 'Time' Readers

Bernie Sanders Voted ‘Person of the Year’ by ‘Time’ Readers

The people have spoken and they’re feeling the Bern more than ever. Time readers, or at least people with Internet access to Time magazine’s webpage, came out in droves to vote for Bernie Sanders as their “Person of the Year.” The Vermont Senator and strong democratic presidential candidate won in landslide against the 58 other candidates in the online poll.

Earning 10.2% of the votes, Sanders came out well ahead of second place winner Malala Yousafzai (5.2%) and third place winner Pope Francis (3.7%). Other serious presidential candidates Donald Trump (1.8%), Hillary Clinton (1.4%), and Ben Carson (1.1%) trailed far behind.

The self-avowed democratic socialist politician has gained a ton of support over the past year as his progressive message of single-payer healthcare, campaign finance reform, and free universities resonated with millions. Surprisingly, the septuagenarian has found enormous grassroots support with the youth, and has become the “cool” candidate, earning endorsements from the likes of Will Ferrell, Sarah Silverman, Lil B, and Killer Mike.

Sanders still lags behind Hillary in national polls but his numbers have been steadily climbing as the democratic primaries inch closer. Sanders has even beat Clinton in a number of state polls, ensuring some real nail-biters before the DNC chooses their official candidate.

Of course, the democratically chosen readers' winner means nothing to the Time magazine editors and Sanders remains curiously absent from the short list of those in consideration for the magazine cover. That list includes the likes of Donald Trump, ISIS leaders, and Caitlyn Jenner. The magazine cover is, after all, a distinction given to someone that has affected the course of human history for better or worse. Keep in mind that this is the magazine that picked Adolf Hitler for the cover in 1938 and this asshole in 2006.